Country Music Star Will Premiere Album In A Video Game

In what may be a first-time occurrence for the world of video games, a brand new album will debut within an upcoming game before it is released as, you know, an actual album.

Shooter Jennings’ newest set of tracks collectively known as Countach is set to arrive on store shelves both physically and digitally on February 26. Before that happens, though, you can hear the whole thing within Richard Garriott’s MMO, Shroud of the Avatar. I’ll give you a moment to let all of that digest.

While Shroud of the Avatar is still in early access, it looks like director Richard Garriott is looking to draw a bit of additional attention to the game by hosting a virtual concert of sorts.

The Shooter Jennings concert is set to kick off within the game at 7 p.m. CST on February 22, a full four days before you can buy it in stores. As an added bonus, anyone who attends the in-game event will have an opportunity to win a copy of the album in vinyl. Pink vinyl, no less. Also up for grabs will be in-game items that can be played in your personal phonographs, each one containing a song from the album.

If, however, you’d like to just go ahead and pre-order the thing, you can do so by heading to the official website. Even if you have no intention of pre-ordering Countach, I strongly encourage you drop by the website to soak up the awesomeness that is the album’s cover.

A tribute to childhood of 30-somethings, you’ll find a mix of rad artwork boasting nods to Top Gun, Flashdance, Over the Top, Neverending Story and more. Honestly, I want a print of that thing hanging on my wall.

As for the album, you can expect nine tracks boasting contributions from the likes of Brandi Carlile and, as if this story wasn’t insane enough already, Marilyn Manson.

Licensed music in games isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Rock Band live and die by their compilation soundtracks. Original songs have also been used as a big part of various games’ promotional campaigns, like with Korn and the understandably forgotten shooter, Haze. Or who can forget the brilliant use of “Mad World” for the original Gears of War?

But this may be the first time an album has celebrated its debut in a video game, especially one that feels about as out of left field as everything else tied to Jennings' new album. Shroud of the Avatar is all about high fantasy, swords, sorcery and the like. If you haven’t already, it might be well worth setting up an account just so you can be there to watch this whole thing unfold in person.